“Oh, no, sir. Everything was pleasant and proper. I had packed the luncheon for the picnic, Hannah here made the sandwiches, and I filled the coffee Thermos, and all such things. The baskets were all ready, and the family expected to start on the picnic almost as soon as we went off. I offered to stay behind and help Mrs Varian, but she was so kind as to say I needn’t do that. So we all went.”
“All at once?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You went down the path that leads from the front door?”
“There’s no other way. It branches around to the kitchen entrance, up here, but there’s no other way off the premises.”
“Not even for a burglar or robber?”
“No, sir. I don’t believe even a monkey could scramble up the cliff, and I know a man couldn’t. You see it overhangs, and it’s impossible.”
“But coming from the other direction,—the village?”
“From that way, everybody has to pass through the lodge gate. The lodge, you know,—that’s the garage, as well. There’s a gate here——”
“Yes, I know.”